1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for accessing information resources located on an online service and the Internet. Particularly, the present invention relates to system and method for using a single access mechanism to search and view content from an online service and the Internet. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, extensions to the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) addressing scheme of the Internet facilitate access to information resources from alternative sources such as an online service comprised of information resources accessible via proprietary protocols.
2. Description of the Related Art
Online services today offer a variety of services to their subscribers. Subscribers may access news, weather, financial, sports, and entertainment services as well as participate in and retrieve information from online discussion groups. For example, a subscriber of the CompuServe.RTM. Information Service may view and retrieve information on a wide variety of topics from repositories located throughout the world. The repositories may be maintained by the service provider or by third party providers who make their information and services available via the worldwide network of computers that comprise the online service.
A subscriber to an online service typically accesses the service using special communication software (a.k.a., client application or client software) that establishes and manages a connection from the subscriber's computer (or client) to the service provider's host computers (or servers) and facilitates the subscriber's interactions with the service. For example, subscribers to the CompuServe Information may use the CompuServe Information Manager for Windows (WinCIM--a graphical based tool for accessing CompuServe's basic/extended news services and discussion groups (forums) as well as electronic mail
In addition to managing the connection, the client communication software displays pages or screens relating to retrieved content according to views or presentations specific to the online service. For example, if information is retrieved from a discussion group, the client communication software may display a screen with a first icon for accessing files contained in libraries and a second icon for accessing messages submitted by subscribers. After selecting the first icon, the subscriber may be present with a list of library files from which to use. The functionality of the discussion group and the user interface (i.e., icons, dialog boxes, menus, etc.) for interacting with the discussion group are dictated by the service provider and hence, represent views or presentations specific to the online service.
Interactions between the subscriber's computer and the service are facilitated by a variety of software protocols (i.e., communication conventions, rules, and structures), including application level protocols, for managing the transfer of data across the network and to the client application on the subscriber's computer. A protocol may be proprietary or exclusive to a service such that only client software from the service provider may be used to communicate with the server software. For example, an online service that supports electronic mail, discussion groups, chat groups, news services, etc. may define and use specific protocols for each type of service so that appropriate information is exchanged between the participants (i.e., clients and servers). Each application-specific protocol may be based on a common, underlying protocol.
The Internet and World Wide Web (WWW), comprised of a vast array of international computer networks, provide online service subscribers with additional information resources to search. Typically, these resources are accessed using a Web browser, such as Spry's Mosaic, capable of understanding the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) used to create the documents found on the WWW and the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) used to navigate the WWW. Although Web browsers typically have varying levels of functionality or sophistication, retrieved content is displayed in content pages according to views or presentations specific to the Web document currently presented by the Web browser. Typically, the views and presentations are different than those provided by the communication software from the online service because the Web browser is, in fact, a separate client application displaying Web documents containing presentation directives.
Although online services and the Internet provide vast information resources, subscribers who wish to access both service provider and Internet resources in order to research a particular topic may find the task difficult and cumbersome to perform because subscribers must use a first client application to access the service (e.g., WinCIM) and a second client application to access the Internet (e.g., Mosaic). In some instances, both client applications may be running (one active, one inactive) and capable of sharing a single connection so that the subscriber may toggle between the applications in order to complete the research task. Despite the convenience in the ability to toggle between the two applications, the subscriber is nonetheless required to learn both applications which have dissimilar user interfaces. Furthermore, the search results are separated because the searches are performed independently of one another and retrieved content is displayed in two separate application presentations. Although one physical connection may be shared, the logical connections, as provided by two different client applications, are separate.
For example, a subscriber may wish to perform research on the topic of Doberman dogs on an online service and the Internet. The subscriber may begin by invoking the online service provided client application and accessing a discussion group devoted to dogs. The subscriber may then search the discussion group libraries by entering a query such as "Doberman" in a dialog box. The client application may then display the results of the search in a first window. After browsing the results of the search, the subscriber may decide to perform the same search on the Internet. The subscriber may toggle to the Web browser client application and enter the same query in a browser dialog box. The browser may then display the results of a search of Web sites, Usenet news groups, etc. in a second window. Although the subscriber may find information from both sources to be of interest, the process of finding the information is time-consuming and potentially confusing because the subscriber must perform the same search twice using two different client applications that use dissimilar presentations.